Two-Hour Marathon of "The Big Bang Theory" on Thursday Wins Every Half Hour in Viewers and Key Demos

CBS had eight of the week's top 10 scripted programs, the premiere of SURVIVOR: NICARAGUA won its new time period in key demos, the finale of Big Brother was up from last summer's finale and The Big Bang Theory won every half hour of its two-hour Thursday marathon, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings for the week ending Sept. 19, the final week of the 2009-2010 television year.

The premiere of SURVIVOR: NICARAGUA won its new Wednesday 8:00 PM hour in viewers, adults 25-54, adults 18-49 and adults 18-34, while the Big Brother season finale finished in the top 10 in adults 25-54, adults 18-49 and adults 18-34. Both reality series posted year-to-year increases.

THE Big Bang Theory's two-hour marathon on Thursday won every half-hour in households, viewers, adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 from 8:00-10:00 PM.

For the week in viewers: CBS (7.95m), NBC (8.92m), ABC (5.20m) and FOX (3.93m). For the summer in viewers, CBS (6.51m) led NBC (6.12m), ABC (5.63m) and FOX (5.09m).

For the week in households: CBS (5.0/09), NBC (5.5/10), ABC (3.3/06) and FOX (2.4/04). For the summer, CBS finished first (4.2/08), ahead of NBC (3.8/07), ABC (3.5/06) and FOX (3.1/06).

For the week in key demographics, CBS was second in both adults 25-54 (2.8/08) and adults 18-49 (2.2/07).

CBS Weekly Highlights:

? SURVIVOR: NICARAGUA SPECIAL (S) won its time slot in adults 25-54 (5.2/14), adults 18-49 (4.0/13) and adults 18-34 (2.6/09); it was second in households (6.8/11) and viewers (12.23m). SURVIVOR: NICARAGUA SPECIAL was the night's #1 program in both adults 25-54 and adults 18-49.

? Big Brother WEDNESDAY was tied for first in adults 18-34 (2.4/07, with NBC) and second in households (4.5/08), viewers (7.86m), adults 25-54 (3.5/09) and adults 18-49 (2.9/08). This was the best rating for BIG BROTHER 12on any night this season in adults 25-54 and matches its best adults 18-49 performance this season.

? For this season of BIG BROTHER on CBS.com, the average visitor spent 11.9 minutes per session, +31% greater than the same period last season. In terms of video streaming, BIG BROTHER attracted more than 7.7 million full-episode streams this season, +10% more than 2009. [Source: Web, CBS Interactive; Video, Omniture]

-- On Thursday, CBS was first in households (5.1/09), viewers (7.93m), adults 25-54 (3.0/08) and adults 18-49 (2.2/07). CBS won every half-hour in households, viewers and adults 25-54. THE Big Bang Theory marathon (8:00-10:00 PM) won every half-hour in adults 18-49.